It is not an exaggeration to describe women's quality training as a bamboo 
shoot after a spring rain.
The new business, which was never heard of by many Chinese women three years 
ago, grows surprisingly fast. It enjoys great popularity among high-income 
women. The leading training centres for women in Beijing include You Lan Women 
Institute, Weisili Women Training Centre and Beijing Gentlewomen Association. 
Their aim is the same - to train women to be graceful, happy and confident.
"Today's women face a great deal of pressure from their work and family. 
Society requires them to be capable professional women, dutiful wives and loving 
mothers. But many women find it hard to be perfect, balancing their family and 
work as well as enhancing their dispositions," said Zhang Lehua, founder of You 
Lan Women Institute.
Old ideas like sacrificing their own studies and careers for the sake of 
their families have been thrown away. More women are becoming brave enough to 
look for self-improvement and getting professional guidance on every aspect of 
their lives.
Among the courses, image designing, adult ballet, social etiquette and 
communication skills are the most popular ones.
"This is evidence of the high demands of society on women's appearance and 
social abilities," said Wen Yuankai, founder of Weisili Women Centre.
"In western countries there are finishing schools to give women effective 
guidance and systematic training," said Zhang. "But in China women seldom get 
such knowledge while on campus or after graduation.
"It is a blank area in women's education," she confirmed. "As more and more 
women surpass the life of dressing warmly and earning a good income in China, 
they become aware of pursuing high class lives and self improvement. But they 
desperately need guidance."
The prospect is quite rosy. According to Lu Dan, president of Shang Jiu Tang 
Women Training Club, she quickly got back most of her investment after only six 
months in operation. She easily develops related businesses such as custom 
tailoring and cosmetics and book selling. She also considers opening a high-end 
hairdressing salon.
These training centres target the upper part of the social pyramid. "Only 
women with decent incomes have such demands and can afford such costs," said Lu.
"A large part of our profit comes from training that companies provide for 
their employees," said Zhang Lehua. Since March 8 is Women's Day, schedules of 
every teacher in her institution are filled with lectures and classes for 
different companies. Foreign companies and large-scale domestic units like to 
invite them to give training sessions for their female employees. Some even set 
the image designing and communication courses as part of the compulsory training 
for every new employee.
(China Daily 03/10/2006 page6)